School Board Wants Altemus' Suit Dismissed

GLOUCESTER — Lawyers representing the Gloucester School Board have asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Teresa Altemus, in part on grounds that she broke state conflict-of-interest laws.

Altemus is a Gloucester schools technology assistant and chairwoman of the Gloucester County Board of Supervisors. She has sued the School Board for docking her pay for missing time to conduct county business.

In papers filed in federal court, lawyers argue that Altemus - who sued in May for $785,000 - "engaged in illegal acts, including but not limited to conflicts of interest and violations of" state conflict-of-interest laws.

Lawyers from the Richmond-based Conrad Firm, hired by the schools' insurance carrier to represent the School Board, declined comment. Court papers don't detail how they allege that Altemus broke state law.

Altemus also didn't respond to a request for comment. She has argued that the School Board violated her First and 14th Amendment rights by infringing on her right to express her political beliefs and denying her equal protection under the law.

The suit was filed in Gloucester Circuit Court, but lawyers for the School Board petitioned last month to have it moved to federal court.

The issue has proved explosive because of Altemus' position as a supervisor, with members of the public questioning whether she should be allowed to vote on items dealing with the School Board. She recused herself Tuesday from discussion and action on a controversial school-financing issue, but she hasn't said publicly whether she would refrain from voting on school issues altogether.

Schools, which received 37 percent of their money this year from the county, are the single biggest item in the county's budget.

The school system this year spent about $38,000 on liability insurance, which covers the system and its employees up to $6 million per claim, according to Joanne Wright, the schools' finance director.

If the suit is successful, the part of damages that Altemus is seeking to cover her loss of income - $35,500 - might not be covered by insurance, but the remainder of potential damages should be, schools Superintendent Ben Kiser said

"But in the long term, premiums would be affected based on our claims history, our payout history," he said. "The cost from the School Board side, if there's a liability - and that's a big 'if' - will be borne by the taxpayer one way or another, either via the insurance premium we budget each year or through some other obligation we may have."

Kiser declined to discuss specifics of the case. But he said decisions on how to proceed would be made jointly by the insurance company, lawyers and the School Board.

"The Board of Supervisors, county staff would not be involved with this at all," he said.

ONLINE EXTRA: For more on the Board of Supervisors' controversies, go to www.dailypress.com/ gloucesterblog.